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The Rise of Fidget Spinners

Why They Are So Popular and How They Can Help Your Child with Autism

Fidget spinners have been around since the mid-90’s and are now starting to gain widespread attention. Fidget Spinners have risen in popularity all over the nation, but what many do not know is that they first started as a tool to improve focus for those with autism, anxiety, and attention disorders. Here are some ways that fidget spinners can help those with ASD:

Controlled Sensory Stimulus

Do you ever remember you or someone else who would constantly click their pens in class? This repetitive function in a way is very similar to the idea of using fidget spinners in class. Those with autism take in a lot of sensory information at once and a fidget spinner can give someone a type of sensory stimulus in the palm of their hands. Those with autism often suffer from sensory overload and fidget spinners offer a calming sensory solution to this problem while in class.

Stress Relievers

Outside of the classroom, fidget spinners can act as a type of stress reliever for children. Much like how fidget spinners help aid those that are restless in the classroom, these spinners can help those with autism out of class as well. Stress and frustration from sensory overload can affect those with ASD outside of class as well and fidget spinners can help with that. The idea is that fidget spinners offer a calming visual and sensory sensation so that one can focus on the sensory information from the spinner rather than everything around them. The spinners in theory can also help those with autism remain calmer in crowded public scenarios where there is a lot of sensory information being processed at one time.

A Stimulating Activity

Recently a lot of videos have popped up of people doing tricks with their fidget spinners. For someone with ASD this could be a very engaging and stimulating after school activity. Those with autism gain a great deal pent up stress from navigating social situations and trying their best to remain focused in class. Fidget spinner tricks offer a chance to have time to themselves to use their creativity and decompress after a day of sensory overload. Spinner tricks are a wonderful way for kids with ASD to satisfy their craving for sensory stimulation.

Do your children use fidget spinners? What are your thoughts?

Fidget spinners have been around since the mid-90’s and are now starting to gain widespread attention. Fidget Spinners have risen in popularity all over the nation, but what many do not know is that they first started as a tool to improve focus for those with autism, anxiety, and attention disorders. Here are some ways that fidget spinners can help those with ASD:

Controlled Sensory Stimulus

Do you ever remember you or someone else who would constantly click their pens in class? This repetitive function in a way is very similar to the idea of using fidget spinners in class. Those with autism take in a lot of sensory information at once and a fidget spinner can give someone a type of sensory stimulus in the palm of their hands. Those with autism often suffer from sensory overload and fidget spinners offer a calming sensory solution to this problem while in class.

Stress Relievers

Outside of the classroom, fidget spinners can act as a type of stress reliever for children. Much like how fidget spinners help aid those that are restless in the classroom, these spinners can help those with autism out of class as well. Stress and frustration from sensory overload can affect those with ASD outside of class as well and fidget spinners can help with that. The idea is that fidget spinners offer a calming visual and sensory sensation so that one can focus on the sensory information from the spinner rather than everything around them. The spinners in theory can also help those with autism remain calmer in crowded public scenarios where there is a lot of sensory information being processed at one time.

A Stimulating Activity

Recently a lot of videos have popped up of people doing tricks with their fidget spinners. For someone with ASD this could be a very engaging and stimulating after school activity. Those with autism gain a great deal pent up stress from navigating social situations and trying their best to remain focused in class. Fidget spinner tricks offer a chance to have time to themselves to use their creativity and decompress after a day of sensory overload. Spinner tricks are a wonderful way for kids with ASD to satisfy their craving for sensory stimulation.

Do your children use fidget spinners? What are your thoughts?

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1 comment for “The Rise of Fidget Spinners”

Tara

March 28, 2018 at 4:29 pm

Its a good thing if it helps some kids. As an autistic who didnt want to do anything Else but spin things around all day my son Alex, now 30, would have been discouraged from using one.I remember the year he was diagnosed well meaning relatives all bought him spinning tops for Christmas. the last thing anyone with autism needs to look at for hours on end. Took us 14 years for us to get his attention, I wasnt going to let him go back into that semi hypnotic trance. Personally I think its a lazy brain waste of time and calming should be encouraged in other more productive ways…like bike riding.